**** da University

[Krynn72]

All I know is that I wouldnt be the man I am today, completely changed from the guy hiding in his shell before I went to Uni. That alone is worth the £9k bill.

Exactly. Having been through college, looking back on it now I would say the most important thing it did for me was make me a better person than I was before. I used to think of college as merely a training session that would result in me getting more money. But its so much more than that. I came out of it much less ignorant about things and much more modest in temperament (despite what my forum persona may suggest). I became more confident as I discovered more about myself and who I was, something I don't think would have happened had I just gone straight into the workforce. I know it sounds corny as all hell, but I really discovered myself going through college, as I saw all these other people who were unlike anybody I ever met before, because they all came from so many different places. It let me be myself without fear of standing out as a weirdo, because everybody in college is a weirdo.

 

[CptStern]

I was talking with a friend on IM, and after deliberating...

I just don't want to go to college after high school. I don't want to spend 4 more years on top of my existing 12 cramming useless facts with the occasional nugget of useful information for a degree. If I get into the USAFA, yeah I'll go, but otherwise...

No.

I figure I can get a job on Philmont Conservation Crew and take that experience to get onto other conservation crews during the fall and early winter. From there? Hell if I know but that's a much better feeling than knowing in 5 years I'll be finishing college. I'm sure I'll figure it out then. I've been told since starting middle school to have a 'five-year plan.' Five-year plans can suck a dick. They really can. I'm tired of 'knowing' where I'll be five years from now. That's boring. I want to live my damn life outside a classroom or cubicle.

I feel so much better now. I just physically feel like I am not as burdened. I don't want to spend 4 years getting a degree and then get a job with some big engineering corporation.

I needed to say this somewhere, and Facebook is not the place to announce your plans to not attend college.

hahah you dont want to go to college but would rahter be a professional boyscout? do they make more than minimum wage?

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

You're thinking of SIGbastard. As am I, nightly. What? We are liberals. We don't mind admitting to the psychosexual frisson of the whole thing.

Anyway, university was the best thing I ever did, but if you that intensely don't want to go, good on you. I suppose it's not for everyone and it seems like going to university is a more expensive proposition in the U.S. than in the U.K (where one can almost afford, like Kiplingscat says, to go "oh well **** it let's just go anyway").

University is expensive- depends how prestigious the school is.

You can go to regular college and get the same degree pretty much almost free here though with all the financial aid, scholarships, and the PELL Grant available.

A lot of people actually get a CHECK in the hundreds/thousands on the first day of the semester due to the Pell grant givin them more than their tuition/books Which is ridiculous to me but oh well.

 

[Dynasty]

One thing I really hate about the US and College; a football scholarship can get you into college. I mean wtf is that about, really.

''You're great at football. Come play for our college and we will pay for your courses.''

That kind of thing really drives me up the wall. Sports should not be a way of getting higher education.

 

[morgs]

I thought that only happened in the movies.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

One thing I really hate about the US and College; a football scholarship can get you into college. I mean wtf is that about, really.

''You're great at football. Come play for our college and we will pay for your courses.''

That kind of thing really drives me up the wall. Sports should not be a way of getting higher education.

You have to qualify academically to go to the college too

Why do you think Terry Bradshaw, an NFL GREAT, went to a tiny relatively unknown college with his amazing, outstanding athletic skills? Even he says it- he couldn't pass the ACT test. Otherwise he could've attended the big schools. It was one of the only ones that would let him in.

It's not like you can be a complete retard but be a sports phenom and make it in. So what's the big deal???? Mad that someone didn't have to pay is all? I'd understand your point if there were no academic standards for athletes, but there are. So what is so bad about it? The body is as important as the mind, and you must train both as a whole to be a fully well rounded person.

 

[Eejit]

One thing I really hate about the US and College; a football scholarship can get you into college. I mean wtf is that about, really.

Oxbridge sometimes do shenanigans like that for rowers.

 

[Dynasty]

Well I know you have to maintain a 2.0 grade point average at college in the US...whatever the hell that means. Why cant they use percentage averages or letters as grades like the rest of us? Here in the UK at Uni you need to recieve 40% and above to pass any piece of work, and therefore module, you take. Anything under that and you get a big fat ''fail'' and can retake once a year.

 

[Escaep]

One thing I really hate about the US and College; a football scholarship can get you into college. I mean wtf is that about, really.

''You're great at football. Come play for our college and we will pay for your courses.''

That kind of thing really drives me up the wall. Sports should not be a way of getting higher education.

Because sports makes the school money and in a roundabout way increases enrollment (for the most part.) Look at all the good college football teams here in the U.S. and look at the number of people enrolled. Think about all the merchandise sales that stem from buying one person's/one teams jerseys, buying tickets to watch them play, watching them on tv, etc and you'll see why they give good players a full ride.

 

[Calhoun]

Well I know you have to maintain a 2.0 grade point average at college in the US...whatever the hell that means. Why cant they use percentage averages or letters as grades like the rest of us?

A grade point average is another way to represent the average letter grade received. A scale of 1.0 through 4.0 is the same as a scale of D through A.

Here in the UK at Uni you need to recieve 40% and above to pass any piece of work

I haven't attended a college and don't plan to attend for a similar reason as Maestro, but after having been required to receive at least 70 percent to pass any assignment or test in high school, 40 percent is a shockingly low number to me.

 

[Sulkdodds]

University is expensive- depends how prestigious the school is.

Ah, right. In the UK all universities cost the same amount of money because there is a tuition fee cap, and, generally, it's easily met by taking out a special low-interest student loan. Some universities offer a lower price, but only the fairly bad ones. I personally would be okay with tuition fees being higher as long as the extremely forgiving loan structure was retained.

 

[Eejit]

While on the subject on University I had it confirmed today that I got my Masters, huzzah!

 

[CptStern]

congrats!!! what field of study? now go get your phd

 

[Eejit]

M.Res in Plant Science. Plant molecular biology really. Yeah I had a phone interview for a PhD today too which I think went alright, couple more hopefully coming up too if it doesnt work out The course was tiring, 2x 20 week projects with other stuff in between, bugger all holidays for a year.

 

[CptStern]

better to do it now then later on when you're saddled with life/responsibility

anyways just see a phd as a ticket to an exclusive group of high paid university professors who do **** all most of the year and get paid well to do it

 

[Eejit]

Hahahaha thats a good one

But yeah, part of the reason to do it early is so me and the woman will be freer later if we decide to go down the kids path.

 

[CptStern]

it would certainly make it easy(ier) to raise a family with flexible work hours

 

[Qonfused]

Well I know you have to maintain a 2.0 grade point average at college in the US...whatever the hell that means. Why cant they use percentage averages or letters as grades like the rest of us? Here in the UK at Uni you need to recieve 40% and above to pass any piece of work, and therefore module, you take. Anything under that and you get a big fat ''fail'' and can retake once a year.

Well I guess we have higher standards than you then. Hmph.

 

[RakuraiTenjin]

Well I know you have to maintain a 2.0 grade point average at college in the US...whatever the hell that means. Why cant they use percentage averages or letters as grades like the rest of us? Here in the UK at Uni you need to recieve 40% and above to pass any piece of work, and therefore module, you take. Anything under that and you get a big fat ''fail'' and can retake once a year.

That's not all you need to get in 2.0 GPA is what you need to stay enrolled AFTER you made it in on a scholarship. A 2.0 average is equivelant to a "70% average" or a "Grade C average"

You need to pass the SAT and ACT with a satisfactory score to get into most colleges. If you dont know what those are look them up.

It's not only about your high school course grades.


And 40%? Are you serious? Anything below 60% in a college here is always marked as failing the course. And some courses even make you get 70%+ to consider 'passed'

 

[dfc05]

While on the subject on University I had it confirmed today that I got my Masters, huzzah!

Hey nice, me too. I don't think they bothered to give me a certificate. I had to find out whether I actually got it by going through the "Certify that I am enrolled at this school" route.

As for professors not working hard... that's totally untrue. Whenever I'm feeling really tired (like, after sleeping at school, for real -- two chair set-up = not bad), I go look at my advisor and I'm like, OK I'm not that tired.

There's a prof here who reportedly has never taken a single vacation day. He's probably in his 60's. Also when I go in to work on Saturdays, there are typically a couple of profs (including him) working also, during the day at least. Another prof is usually around until 9 or 10 pm every weeknight.

 

[Maestro]

That reminds me of my AP Phyics C teacher. Holy shit. He stays up till like one in the morning and gets up at 6. The only time he takes off is after class we play a round of Liars' Dice.